While it's true that the Indiana (PA) men's basketball team was playing without its best player on Sunday night when the Crimson Hawks took on the Pitt Panthers at the Petersen Events Center, it's highly unlikely that 6'5" sophomore forward Gerald Brooks would have made much of a difference in the game, as the Panthers stomped IUP 83-31 in an exhibition game. The win gives Pitt a 2-0 exhibition record and sets the team up for the season-opener at home this Friday against Houston Baptist.

"You never feel that you're as good as you want to be, but we're getting there," Jamie Dixon said after the game. "What I'm very happy about was that we improved so much this week. We've still got a ways to go, but we'll get better. I was really happy with the practices this week. They knew we weren't as good as we needed to be last week and they built on it.

"I thought we played very hard and I was very happy with how we played and sustained it, battled, and competed throughout the entire game. I thought every guy came in and played and defended hard and improved from four days ago. That's what was most satisfying for us."

Four days ago the Panthers rolled over Pitt-Johnstown 97-56 at the Petersen Events Center. In that game, UPJ center Chris Gilliam scored a game-high 23 points. Against IUP on Sunday, a Pitt player led the game's scoring, as junior forward Sam Young put up 16 points in just 19 minutes of play.